Here we are at the new location for Edge at the corner of Prospect and Kelly Avenue, the newest edition to Peoria Heights, “restaurant row.” There’s the nightly menu posted outside and we’ve missed happy hour, but I do want to check out the Executive Lounge, so let’s go inside and look at Edge, version 2.0!

Walking in you can find the dining room off to the right, but I see the bar straight ahead, so that’s where I went and when I got there, I saw a familiar face...

It’s Ashley, who owns Edge along with her husband Chef Dustin Allen. She served up the first drink of the evening and said that Dustin was back in the kitchen, but would come out later in the evening.

There’s Heather at the end of the bar, great to see she made it to the new Edge!

The First Drink

I thought that tonight we’d have four drinks and a four course meal. The first drink is a Rosemary Lavender Lemon Drop Martini and it’s delicious and perfect for a holiday weekend! There’s the back of the bar and four lights hang overhead illuminating the space.

There’s a communal table behind the bar and tables line the wall with a view of Prospect Road here in the Heights. The hallway leads into the dining room.

I really like this new space, the atmosphere is modern upscale with the vast wine inventory and glasses used in the design. I got here near closing time, so the crowd has thinned out.

The Second Drink And The First And Second Courses

For my second drink I got a White Rascal beer and the food has started arriving. The first course is a trio of deviled eggs. I love deviled eggs and these are so tasty! They’re creamy and have just a hint of zing to them and buried beneath the rich, whipped yolk is a slice of salmon tartare. The second course arrived shortly after and this was black pepper candied bacon. That’s right black pepper candied bacon and it was as heavenly as it sounds. It’s a pile of thick bacon slices that have been candied and it’s served with fresh coarse ground mustard. I’ll write more about this in the review below, but it’s so delicious and something you need to sample!

The Third Drink And The Third Main Course

The third drink of the evening is a Sassy Larry and it’s quite tasty and so sassy it makes me think of Jane Pratt! For the third and main course I ordered the Grilled Tomahawk Pork Chop. This is a monster pork chop served on the bone. It’s grilled, thick, juicy and so flavorful! It’s served on a bed of onions and snow peas in a Balsamic reduction and this is the prime rib of pork chops! It was a wonderful dinner and now time to combine a drink and dessert for the fourth course!

The Fourth Course Drink And Dessert

I ordered the Spiced Mexican Chocolate Martini for the fourth drink and the fourth dessert course all in one! Lyndsey came over to assist Ashley make this unique martini that you can only get at Edge. It’s made with an in-house spiced vodka, Trader Vic’s Chocolate Liqueur and topped off with a generous dollop of homemade whipped cream. A perfect ending to a spectacular meal!

As promised, Chef Dustin came out after the meal to say hi. Here he is with Ashley and I complimented him on the fabulous four course dinner, one of the best meals I’ve ever had! After some nice conversation, Dustin had to get back to work in the kitchen and Ashley said she’d show me the Executive Lounge upstairs.

The Executive Lounge

You have to take the elevator in the back of the building up to the third floor and as you exit the elevator turn to the right and there’s the Executive Lounge! It looks very swanky in here!

Wow, That’s an impressive bar. There’s a comfortable lounge area in here and a spectacular view of Peoria Heights out the windows that line the walls. The Executive Lounge is open on Wednesday through Saturday and the hours are from three in the afternoon to midnight with a happy hour on Thursday and Friday from 4PM to 6PM.

There’s also a room in the back for private parties. Very impressive and we need to have a Thirsty-Third Friday in here this summer, so stay tuned for that!

I’ve been going out every Saturday night for dinner since the very first Saturday Night Cheeseburger way back when I was doing the 365 bar crawl in 2010, here’s a link to the very first one. So I’ve been going out every single Saturday night for over eight years now and I think this just may be the best meal I’ve had in this eight year dining experience!

The first two courses were a bacon and egg combination and they were both exquisite and tasty dishes. The deviled eggs were rich and creamy with just a bit of zing in the whipped yolk and the salmon tartare beneath the yolk added a nice balance to the eggs. The second course was black pepper candied bacon and this dish was so delicious I really can’t think of a proper adjective to describe it. Just look at the picture of it and it was about three thousand time better than that looks!

For the third and main course I got the Grilled Tomahawk Pork Chop. This is a thick slice of pork served on the bone. It was so juicy and flavorful. It was served on a bed of snow peas and onions in a balsamic reduction sauce that complimented the pork perfectly.

To finish the meal off I got the Spiced Mexican Chocolate Martini which was equal parts spice and sweet and it was the perfect ending to a perfect meal!

SN Rating

Four Galloping Gourmets—This was such a memorable meal and it perfectly suits today’s Memorial Day holiday! Thanks to Ashley and Dustin for a wonderful meal, drinks and a fun Saturday evening. Congratulations on the new version of Edge!